Healthy, tasty family meals made affordable with beef mince

Money can be tight for many families this time of year and beef mince is a healthy affordable choice.

Here's some meal ideas that look and taste great - and they're easy on the pocket.

Meatball & Roast Vegetable Wraps

This makes a simple family meal and any leftover meatballs and roasted veggies make great wraps for lunches the next day. Omit the chilli in the meatball mix if the kids don’t like it.

500 g lean beef mince

1 tsp chilli flakes

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp fresh thyme

1 tub hummus

4 wholemeal flat breads

1 red capsicum

1 small eggplant

1 zucchini

1 red onion

1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

100 g rocket

4 tbsp parsley

Pre-heat oven to 180ºC.2.Cut all the vegetables into thick slices. Toss them with 1 tbsp olive oil and the rosemary. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and cook in oven for 15-20 minutes.

Place the mince in a bowl and season with thyme, garlic and chilli flakes. Shape into little meatballs. Heat a frypan to medium with 1 tbsp olive oil and cook the meatballs for 5 minutes, turning often until golden brown and cooked through.

Warm the flat breads in aluminium foil in the oven for a few minutes. Spread each wrap with 2 tbsp hummus; arrange roasted vegetables on top and then the meatballs. Garnish with parsley and rocket, wrap and cut in half to serve.

Meat-za Pie

Base

500 g beef mince

⅓ cup oat bran or quick-cooking rolled oats

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp each dried basil and oregano

1 tsp each paprika, salt and black pepper

½ cup beef stock

Topping

½ cup tomato sauce

150 g mushrooms, sliced

1 green pepper, finely chopped

1 cup grated tasty cheese

1 tsp dried oregano

Preheat the oven to 190°C

Mix together the mince, oat bran or rolled oats, garlic, dried herbs, paprika, salt and pepper with the stock.

Press into a 20cm cake tin. Use a large wet spoon to smooth mince, making a slightly raised rim.

Spread evenly with the tomato sauce, then scatter over the mushrooms, green pepper, cheeses and oregano. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Press a tablespoon of grated cheese together to form a disc. Place the cheese disc into the centre of each ball of mince and shape the burger around the cheese. Brush or spray the burgers lightly with oil.

Preheat the pan to moderately high. The burgers should sizzle when you add them to the pan lower the heat to moderate. Cook for 5 minutes on each side or until thoroughly cooked. Turn them once only.

Serve in a bun with your favourite salad ingredients and sauce.

Burgers should not be served undercooked, rare or pink. A good guide is that when a skewer is inserted into the thickest part of the burger the juices run clear.

Line the base and two sides of a lightly greased loaf tin with baking paper. Line the paper with the proscuitto slices making sure the proscuitto flaps will overlap to cover the top of the meatloaf.

Push the mince mixture into the loaf tin well, cover with the proscuitto flaps. Bake for 60 minutes or until meatloaf shrinks slightly and is firm in the centre and no longer pink inside. Stand for 5 minutes before turning out of pan. Serve with mashed potato and vegetables.

Knights Meats & Deli

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